They are the forgotten Midland Muslims who seem to have vanished off the face of the earth after travelling to Pakistan. While the elated families of the Guantanamo Bay detainees from Tipton await their imminent arrival home, Tariq Mahmood and Munir Alis loved ones have no such no relief. Solicitors acting for Tariq, a 30-year-old from Sparkhill, Birmingham, say they no longer know where he is after the father-of-two was arrested last October on suspicion of being involved with al Qaida. Pakistani authorities initially confirmed they had detained him but have since refused to confirm his whereabouts. Now intelligence sources in Pakistan say they believe Tariq has been moved to the American airbase in Bagram, Afghanistan -known as the stepping stone to Guantanamo Bay. The Sunday Mercury understands that Tariq is being held because of alleged links to another Birmingham terror suspect, Moazzem Begg. Begg, who is expected to appear before the first Guantanamo Bay military tribunals later this year, is reported to have confessed to a plot to drop anthrax over London. Last night the Mahmood family solicitor Natalia Garcia said she would be writing to Home Secretary David Blunkett, demanding help and clarification on dual nationality issues. The Foreign Office has been reluctant to pressurise the Pakistani authorities for access to Tariq because he is deemed to have dual nationality despite being born in Britain and holding only a British passport. It is a legal discrepancy which must be cleared up, said Ms Garcia. British-born Pakistanis are automatically deemed to have dual nationality if their parents were born in Pakistan. The onus is on them to contact the Pakistani Consulate in London when they turn 21 if they wish to formally relinquish their Pakistani citizenship. Ms Garcia said: If they dont formally relinquish it, then they are still deemed as having dual nationality. Not many people are aware of this unusual legal position and neither the British or Pakistani authorities seem to want to publicise this fact. Basically it means that if you are a British-born Pakistani travelling in Pakistan and you get arrested, then there is very little the British government can, or will, do for you because you have dual nationality whether you knew it or not. That is the case with Mr Mahmood. Because he has dual nationality, almost by default, then the British authorities can only ask for informal access rather than make any demands. A spokesman for the Foreign Office confirmed the legal anomaly and said that each country had its own dual nationality agreement with the UK. Meanwhile Munir Ali, 23, has not been seen since leaving his Tipton home to travel to Pakistan with the so-called Tipton Taliban in October 2001. Initial reports suggested that Munir, a waiter, whose sister Syeda Khatun MBE is a Labour councillor in the area, had been picked up in Afghanistan with neighbours Shafiq Rasul, Asif Iqbal and Ruhal Ahmed. But the rumours proved to be false and Munir is now feared dead after having become separated from his mates when they reached Afghanistan. Last night his brother Momtaz, 28, said: We have had very little information from the Foreign Office and the stress has been unbearable. I hope to speak to his friends when they return from Cuba to try and find out exactly what happened in Pakistan and when they last saw my brother. | 
